Traditional voice calling card services are well known. In general, these services may be used to reduce communication costs and manage call accounting records. As the landscape of telecommunications changes, retail pre-paid calling cards have become very popular in certain market segments, especially for international calling. One reason for this popularity is due to the significantly higher long distance calling rates for international calls when compared to national long distance calling rates for private subscriber accounts. With the success of the Internet, Voice over IP (VoIP) has become the dominant communication mechanism for pre-paid international long distance calling services.
One popular form of access to the Internet is with dial up Internet services. Although use of broadband Internet access is becoming more widespread, a significant number of users still access the Internet via dial-up modems. In general, the basic requirements for dial-up access are an account with an Internet service provider (ISP) and an analog phone line. To get an account, an ISP will typically require subscribers to have some credit history and a willingness to enter a monthly or yearly dial-up access service contract.
Those individuals interested in access to the Internet who cannot, or are unwilling, to get an account may be denied such access. In addition, such accounts are usually accessed with a local dial-up number that incurs long distance charges when accessed while traveling. Further, access to an account may be difficult when using Internet compatible devices not owned by the owner of the account.
Accordingly, a system is needed to provide a calling card-like offering for not only voice telephony services but also access public networks such as the Internet.